How Many Zeros in a Million?

At first glance, the word million might sound abstract — big, impressive, and a bit mysterious. But when you break it down numerically, it's actually pretty simple.

A million is written as: 1,000,000 Now, let's count the zeros: 1 followed by six zeros.

A million has 6 zeros.

Million: Breaking It Down

Let's build up to a million step by step:

Ten → 1 zero → 10
Hundred → 2 zeros → 100
Thousand → 3 zeros → 1,000
Ten thousand → 4 zeros → 10,000
Hundred thousand → 5 zeros → 100,000
Million → 6 zeros → 1,000,000

Each time you multiply by 10, you add another zero.

Quick tip: If you know that a thousand has 3 zeros, then a million (which is a thousand thousands) doubles that:
3 + 3 = 6 zeros

What is a Million, Really?

A million is the number you get when you multiply 1,000 × 1,000.

This is also known as 10⁶ (10 to the 6th power), which is another way of saying “1 followed by 6 zeros.”

1,000 (3 zeros)
× 1,000 (3 more zeros)
= 1,000,000 → 6 zeros total

Million to Number Conversion Table

Millions	Number	Zeros	Common Use
1	1,000,000	6	Small businesses, influencers
2	2,000,000	6	City population, prize money
5	5,000,000	6	Downloads, views
10	10,000,000	7	TV show audience, startup revenue
50	50,000,000	7	Public sector budgets
100	100,000,000	8	Infrastructure, IPOs
999	999,000,000	8	Global market cap ranges

Million in Different Contexts

Money: If you had 1 million dollars, you'd have $1,000,000.
Time: 1 million seconds is about 11 days and 13 hours.
Distance: Light travels almost 300 million meters per second—so a million is tiny in cosmic terms!
Data: In tech, 1 megabyte (MB) used to represent about 1 million bytes of data (though technically it's 1,048,576 bytes).

Million Memory Trick

Want to remember how many zeros in a million? Try this rhyme:

“One with six, makes the million mix!”

Or this acronym trick:
T-H-M

Thousand = 3 zeros
Hundred thousand = 5 zeros
Million = 6 zeros

Million vs. Billion vs. Trillion

Here's how a million compares with even larger numbers:

Scale	Name	Zeros	Relative Size
10⁶	Million	6	Base level
10⁹	Billion	9	1,000 × bigger than a million
10¹²	Trillion	12	1,000 × bigger than a billion

Questions & Answers about Million

What Comes Before Million?

The number that comes before a million is a thousand.

Thousand = 1,000 (that's 3 zeros)
It's written as 10³ in scientific notation

A million is a thousand thousands.

What Comes After Million?

The next number after a million is a billion.

Billion = 1,000,000,000 (that's 9 zeros)
It's written as 10⁹

A billion is a thousand millions.

Name	Number of Zeros	Scientific Notation
Thousand	3	10³
Million	6	10⁶
Billion	9	10⁹

How many digits does a million have?

A million has 7 digits in total — that’s the digit 1 followed by 6 zeros.

Is a 6-digit number a million?

No, a 6-digit number is less than a million. A true million is 1 followed by 6 zeros, making it a 7-digit number.

How many zeros in 1 million?

6 zeros
1 million = 1,000,000
Common in population stats, net worth, and business values.

How many zeros in 2 million?

6 zeros
2 million = 2,000,000
Enough to describe a small city's population or a lottery jackpot.

How many zeros in 5 million?

6 zeros
5 million = 5,000,000
Often seen in app downloads, YouTube views, or startup funding.

How many zeros in 10 million?

7 zeros
10 million = 10,000,000
Used in large-scale transactions or celebrity contracts.

How many zeros in 50 million?

7 zeros
50 million = 50,000,000
Large government programs, national budget figures, etc.

How many zeros in 100 million?

8 zeros
100 million = 100,000,000
Massive-scale investments, infrastructure projects, or valuations.

How many zeros in 999 million?

8 zeros
999 million = 999,000,000
Just below a billion — seen in multinational revenue or national GDP chunks.

Facts About a Million

1 million = 1,000 × 1,000
Written as 10⁶
Has 6 zeros
One million seconds ≈ 11.5 days
One million grains of rice ≈ 25 kg
Stacked 1-dollar bills: 360 ft tall
The word million comes from the Italian milione, which itself grew from mille, meaning thousand. So, a million is essentially a thousand thousands.